Derek Hough & Hayley Erbert on Power Couple Style & Finding Confidence
E!: What do you love about shopping at Express?
DH: I’ve shopped at Express for a long time. I love the bold colors and the amazing outfits, but for a dancer, it’s vital to have comfortable, stretchy fabric that I can move in. You can really do anything in clothes from Express. They look great and they’re actually just super comfortable. Again, being a dancer, wearing stiff clothes is the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard. The flexibility you get from Express is so so good.
HE: I keep shopping at Express because of the versatility of their products. You can put together a look for any occasion and my favorite thing is that there are so many pieces that you can wear to work one day and for a night out on the weekend. They have so many items that you can wear in many settings.
E!: Tell me about your Express campaign.
DH: Being a dancer, it’s all about expression, expressing yourself and also giving you that confidence. Something I always say that confidence isn’t something that you have. Confidence is something that you do. You do things that give you the confidence to make you feel a certain way. Dance is such a great way to do that for me, but whatever you’re passionate about, if you keep going with that, it helps build confidence. That’s something I love about all of these platforms like TikTok and Instagram: people have an outlet to share their passions. They get to share their energy and express themselves. Expressing yourself through clothing can be a huge part of expressing your personality. I also love bright colors to express my personality.
HE: It’s also about finding that confidence through your personal style and to keep in mind that everyone feels confident in different things. For us, specifically, we wear what we feel confident dancing in. Express has some really good pieces to make everyone feel included and confident.
E!: That standpoint of building confidence as an action instead of simply having it is such a logical and accessible way to think about “confidence,” as something attainable.
DH: I would say it’s a more empowering way to think. Instead of thinking that you’re at a loss of something or that you don’t “have” confidence, you can feel empowered to take action instead. Do certain things that build you up and help you feel a certain way about who you are. For us, a lot of that comes from dance, but in a more general sense, it’s about finding outlets for self-expression.
